Beautiful in the Moonlight
by shinigami714
Summary: Draco is angry after his father is landed in Azkaban. He decides to get revenge on Harry Potter but something changes his mind. Will Draco be able to get what he wants? Eventual DracoHarry
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters within! It's all J.K. Rowling's! I just borrow them and mess around with their lives for a bit.

**Spoilers: **SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP (does not contain spoilers from HBP)

**Pairing: **Draco/Harry

**Warnings: **Possible language, violence, a bit of a depressed Harry, OOC-ness, some romance, some fluff, some angst (just for fun), AU (nothing from book six)

**A/N: **This is my first ever fanfic. The idea popped up in my head late at night and so I decided to finally give a shot at writing. I'll gladly take comments and criticism (try not to be too harsh eh? lol). Please review!

**Beautiful in the Moonlight – Prologue**

Draco Malfoy had decided to kill Harry Potter. This was no longer a simple longing to make Potter's life hell, but instead a strong desire to actually murder the boy. The perfect, can't do anything wrong, Gryffindor prat. Draco was pissed beyond belief. His father was in Azkaban and Potter would pay dearly because naturally it was entirely his fault.

Draco spent the first half of the summer after fifth year plotting. His plan had to be flawless. Draco didn't want anything to get in the way of murdering the bloody Boy Who Lived, or rather the Boy Who Wouldn't Die. That name would soon change. Draco thought of many names for him that could be used in the daily profit after Potter's demise. 'The Boy Who Died A Gruesome Death at the Hands of Draco Malfoy' was his favourite. A bit long, yes, but it got the point across. And, he decided, it would definitely be a gruesome death. Although on second thought, maybe The Boy Who Died A Gruesome Death would suffice. Draco crossed out the last few words on that choice. Wouldn't want to tarnish his reputation after all. He was a Malfoy, and as such, would not be labelled a murderer.

Draco used every resource at his disposal to come up with a sinister and utterly evil plan. The Malfoy libraries had an abundance of books and Draco had no problem finding numerous spells that would kill Potter, and cause him the most amount of pain as possible. The scratching of a quill on parchment could be heard late into the night on many occasions. A too-curious house elf made the mistake of questioning Draco's mental state. That landed him out of the house with a full set of wizard's robes and a hat to boot.

Late one evening Draco sat back and observed all of the notes he had made. There were many spells. Many very painful spells. Unfortunately none of the spells satisfied Draco. He sighed, and got back to work, the scratching of his quill never letting up.

It was not until July 31st that Draco came up with his plan. Sitting on the loo with his pants down at his ankles Draco finally emerged from his deep concentration. He had it. The Ultimate Plan, with a capital 'U' and a capital 'P'. The Plan of all Plans. The Plan that would undoubtedly be the downfall of Harry bloody Potter. Draco would simply find Potter, and kill him. Yes, that was his 'Plan'.

It had been a rather stressful hour on the loo that day, and needless to say, Draco was pleased with this Plan.

Draco knew where Potter lived. He'd had a discussion with his father years ago about the upbringing of Scarhead when his father had unintentionally revealed Potter's address. For some reason it had stuck in Draco's mind – _Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging_ – and he didn't think twice about why. Draco had decided to fly there, since it was his best means of transportation. He would definitely not degrade himself enough to step on the Knight Bus. Not with that horrendously ugly Stan…Shitpoke, or whatever his name was. That was for commoners, and Malfoys were not commoners.

On the night of August sixth Draco removed his Nimbus 2001 from its traditional location in Malfoy Manor's shed (which was more like a good size home really), and took off into the sky. Draco would land outside Potter's house, break in, cast the killing curse, and then leave before anyone could find him. It would do no good for him to get locked up in Azkaban alongside his father. '_No'_, Draco thought, '_that just would not do_.' As much as he cared for his father, he had no desire to rot away in prison next to him. Lucius had a tendency to become quite moody without proper grooming.

The weather was not on his side that night, however, and the sudden downpour of rain caused him to land early and take shelter among some trees. Draco cursed and sneered at the sky from the ground. This was not in his plan at all.

The night was silent except for the pattering of the rain and a mysterious screeching noise. Draco, annoyed with the incessant sound, walked around until locating it. The culprit was a sing, in what looked like some sort of playground (perhaps for muggle children), on which a person was perched, slowly rocking back and forth. Draco looked carefully at the boy, his wand at the ready.

'_Potter,' _Draco realized. Except this was not the Potter he remembered. This Potter was soaking wet from the rain, his ebony hair slicked down across his face, which was marred with bruises. His eyes were sunken in, no longer sparkling with life as they usually did and his glasses hung broken from one of his hands. '_What happened to him?_' Draco wondered and grimaced at the sight of his face. For this boy was almost void of life. The moonlight lit his facial features up with a soft glow and it was with a great amount of shock that Draco realized just how beautiful this boy before him was, despite the markings. Draco lowered his wand, still observing the boy carefully before mounting his broom once more and heading back to Malfoy Manor. All the while back he mulled things over in his brain. Yes, he was sure what he wanted.

Draco Malfoy had decided to seduce Harry Potter.

* * *

**A/N:** Please review! (and the following parts will hopefully be longer!)


	2. Chapter 01

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters within! It's all J.K. Rowling's! It is quite fun to mess around with their brains though.

**Spoilers: **SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP (does not contain spoilers from HBP)

**Pairing: **Draco/Harry

**Warnings: **Possible language, violence, a bit of a depressed Harry, OOC-ness, some romance, some fluff, some angst (just for fun), AU (nothing from book six)

**A/N: **Ok, so Harry's sort of depressed, but really, who can blame him? But hopefully the second part of the chapter will lighten it up with Draco's idiocy (definitely OOC). And this chapter is longer than the Prologue! Yay! (oooh! And I got reviews! I'm so excited! Thanks, you guys, for reading and responding! ^_^, sorry for the REALLY long wait – it's been since the summer O_O)

**Beautiful in the Moonlight – Chapter 01**

Harry Potter sat on a swing in the playground near his neighbourhood. He wondered once again why exactly he was still alive. Dudley and his gang had certainly given him a beating tonight. And he had let them. Harry hadn't uttered a single word, hadn't let out a single scream or grunt of pain. He had simply let the punches fall all over his body.

It was with a little shock that Harry realised he could no longer feel the pain. Or maybe he had just stopped caring. Did your pain censors cease to work when you stopped caring? No, it wasn't that he could no longer feel the pain. It was just… a different sort of pain. This pain was deep in his chest and sometimes a dull ache in his stomach, where all of his guilt lay, along with his memories of Sirius. Sirius…Harry looked up at the black sky and allowed the drops of rain to fall all over his face. He clutched his glasses tightly in his hand, the broken shards jutting into his fingers.

Harry knew it wasn't entirely his fault. No, he was not so daft that he blamed Sirius's death on himself. But he did notice that people around him tended to die. Quite a few people really. Perhaps he was a death omen himself. That might explain Trelawney's predictions all of these years. Harry wondered how many more people would die around him this year. Realistically he would have to face Voldemort eventually, and with that would come much death, possibly his own. Most likely his own, he added as an afterthought. Harry was not confident in his ability to defeat Voldemort. Would he, Harry, after all of the death he had witnessed, really be able to cast the Killing Curse?

Harry stood up then and began walking back to the Dursley's. Maybe tonight the gods, if there were any on his side anymore, would be kind to him and at least grant him a moment of sleep. Harry didn't get his hopes up. His sleep was quite often plagued with nightmares, and in his wake, his mind was plagued with memories. Harry wasn't sure which was worse. But either way, sleep evaded him now. And if Harry awoke screaming from another nightmare, Vernon might just kick him out of the house. He could deal with that he decided, but Dumbledore would not be pleased, and Harry had no desire to get more people angry with him. He had enough enemies for now. Half of the world didn't know his existence, but the other half did. And of the half that knew his name, there were at least a quarter that wanted him dead or thought him insane. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

Harry reached number 4 Privet Drive and opened the front door. His clothes dripped on the entrance mat. The single word on it was blurred, but Harry knew it said 'Welcome'. What bullshit. No one was welcome here except Vernon, Petunia and Dudley. Maybe Aunt Marge and her rat of a dog too.

"It's midnight boy, get your arse into bed!" Vernon yelled from the living room. Harry said nothing in return and walked up to Dudley's second bedroom with Vernon's complaints following him the entire distance. Harry didn't consider it his bedroom, nothing in this house belonged to him except his few possessions locked securely in his trunk. And Hedwig, of course, but somehow Harry thought of Hedwig as a free creature. She was, after all, able to fly away to wherever she desired, and no one would question her absence. Harry closed the door to 'his' room and plopped down on the bed. He heard Vernon's muffled complaints from downstairs and covered his head with a pillow. He didn't bother to change out of his clothes.

Harry debated trying to sleep, although he doubted he'd be able to in the wet clothes stuck to his body. Harry longed to have one real dream, the kind he used to have as a child. The simple ones, the ones that didn't make any sense at all, but made you laugh upon awakening. Harry didn't have real dreams anymore. No more were the little dreams that filled him with joy upon awaking. There were only the nightmares, and tonight would prove to be no different.

In the end Harry decided it would be best to change into something dry at least, and before long, exhaustion had pulled him into a land of darkness. Tonight it was different though. It was not Sirius falling through the veil he saw, nor Cedric's quick death. No, tonight it was his own, as the walls around his cupboard closed in upon him. Quicker and quicker they moved towards him until he could no longer move and then a rapping came. An incessant rapping 'tap, tap, tap.'

Startled, Harry awoke from his nightmare, gasping for air, to a tapping on his window. Pig. Harry sighed and got out of bed to let the owl into his room. Pig was noisy as ever, and Harry knew that the Dursleys would hear him.

"Shut up," he spat out. Pig froze and quickly obeyed, not used to such a command. Well, that was a first. Harry pulled the letter off of Pig's foot and skimmed it quickly. Ron and Hermione were together at the Burrow, and wanted to know when he'd be arriving. Harry didn't feel like conversing with them at all. He really just wanted to be alone. What was the point if he'd only lose them in the end anyway? It was better to distance himself a bit, at least until he returned to Hogwarts. Harry wrote a quick reply on the back of the parchment, with a lame excuse explaining his reasons for staying with the Dursleys. He tied it back onto Pig's leg than shooed him out the window.

Harry sat back and looked out at the moon. It had stopped raining sometime during the night, which disappointed Harry somehow. He had always liked the rain. It was quite relaxing to listen to. Harry looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost four in the morning. No point in trying to sleep again then. He decided that today he would finish up what remaining homework he had, and then tomorrow he'd make an early trip to Diagon Alley, in the hopes of avoiding classmates. Harry pulled out his Transfiguration essay and started writing.

* * *

"Mother…"

"Yes, Draco?"

Draco shuffled his feet for a few moments trying to think of exactly what he wanted to ask. His mother looked at him inquiringly and he finally decided on, "How do you get someone to fall in love with you?"

His mother's eyebrows rose marginally and she responded, "Honey…get someone? What do you mean by get? I mean, you can't force someone to love you. Love is an unusual emotion. It just…happens."

"But…I thought that Malfoys…-"

"Maybe you better sit down," his mother suggested. Draco complied and took a seat in a comfy deep red chair across from his mother. He took a deep breath and tried again, "Can't we have anything we want?"

Narcissa Malfoy rolled her eyes and cursed her husband for teaching such pitiful things to her son. In a distant cell a certain Malfoy by the name of Lucius sneezed and looked over his shoulder. Narcissa crossed her legs and put down the book she had been reading. She decided to give her son the news now instead of later as she'd previously hoped.

"Dear, with all due respect, everything your father ever told you was a great pile of crap."

Draco looked at his mother in shock and then contemplated her words. "Does that mean that…I can't…have everything I want?" he asked sincerely.

"Draco, darling, sometimes you have to earn things you want. This love thing you are talking about for example. You have to earn a person's love; you cannot force it from them."

"How exactly…do you go about earning someone's love then?" he asked, very curious as to where his mother was going with this.

Narcissa briefly wondered how her son could be so dim when he managed to achieve Outstanding in practically every subject. She looked at her son, studying him for a moment. He was handsome, as a 'Malfoy should be' and he could be polite when he wanted to be. But he was severely lacking in the common sense department.

"Draco, I would suggest that you start with being nice to this person. I assume that you are already, because that would make sense. After that, try and get to know them and then it may be easier to come up with things to please them. May I ask who this person is?" Narcissa left out the word 'she', suspecting that her son probably went the other way. How could any straight man spend more than an hour on his hair in the morning? Although, that would mean Lucius…as well…

"Er…well. Actually, mum…I'm not really nice to hi-them. I…"

Narcissa looked up at the ceiling and asked the question she'd been saving for years, "Hun, is it Harry Potter?"

"WHAT! NO! UH…how..why?" Draco sputtered off. Narcissa didn't respond to that, instead choosing to wait for her son to work through this little glitch on his own.

"…I don't get it…how…did you know? Even I didn't know until last night! And I don't really loooove him or anything," Draco gestured furiously with his hands.

"Honey, really, it's quite obvious. I'm sure you've known deep down ever since you first met the boy, it's just been hard to admit. Really dear, it's not that big of a deal," she tried to encourage him.

"But it is! It's HARRY bloody POTTER!"

"Yes, dear. I know," Narcissa answered, "But you can't help who you love. Just let it be. However, this may be exceptionally difficult, since I know the two of you don't have the best of relations. Why don't you start with something simple…friendship often comes first you know. Try being civil with him at least, and maybe find out a bit more about him. And do try not to insult his friends."

Draco took what his mother said and decided that it just might work. Being civil to Potter. Who would've thought? Step one in his plan for seduction: earning Potter's trust. To do this he'd have to be civil with Potter and grudgingly, the Weasel and Mud-…DAMN! Granger. ARG! And not Weasel…*sigh*, Weasley. If he had to start calling them by their first names, god forbid, he would die. This was going to be hard.

* * *

**A/N** – Um…wow I totally forgot about this. I actually thought it was a pitiful excuse for a story…but I just read another one on here, and sort of decided to keep writing this. At least I'll try to more than before! *cookies for forgiveness!*


	3. Chapter 02

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters within! It's all J.K. Rowling's! It is quite fun to mess around with their brains though.

**Spoilers: **SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP (does not contain spoilers from HBP)

**Pairing: **Draco/Harry

**Warnings: **Possible language, violence, a bit of a depressed Harry, OOC-ness, some romance, some fluff, some angst (just for fun), AU (nothing from book six)

**A/N: **I would just like to say a personal thanks to the HP Lexicon. It saved my life in this chapter. I also inadvertently typed 'shit' instead of 'this' at one point O_o…eh…weird. I also got a bit of an idea…for the actual plot of this story while writing this chapter. Up until now I had no idea how I was going to lead this somewhere…so I'm happy ^_^

**Beautiful in the Moonlight – Chapter 02**

The following day Narcissa Malfoy took her son into Diagon Alley for a little shopping spree. The schoolbook list had arrived early this year, and there was no point in putting the inevitable off any longer. Narcissa knew her son was getting older, and was probably feeling uncomfortable trailing along after his mother all day, so she sent him off to get his supplies, while she looked for other things for various Malfoy needs.

Draco, glad for the independence, walked with his head held high down the alleyway. Though confident and calm on the outside, his inner mind was a picture of chaos. He couldn't get that dratted Potter off his thoughts. Potter this and Potter that. So many questions were bouncing off the inside of his skull. How, in Merlin's name, was he going to gain Potter's trust?

So caught up in his thoughts he was, that he nearly strode right past Flourish & Blotts. Draco walked into the store listening to the bell chime on his way. He pulled out his list and made his way over to the counter. Leaning on it casually, naturally he waited for someone to notice his presence.

"Did you need anything?"

Startled, Draco whipped his head around and was met by the sight of the manager balancing on one foot on a step ladder, while stacking books.

"Uh…yes, actually. Could you possibly acquire me with the books on this list?" Draco asked. "Hogwarts, you see…"

"Just…just, give me a moment…a bit busy…eeegh…oh, oh no…NO, GAH!" The manager toppled over and all of the books he had been stacking fell on top of him. Draco made no move to help, but leaned over the desk and replied, "I'll just be browsing then."

Draco walked up and down the aisles glancing at a few of the titles. There was nothing really worthwhile in this shop anyway. If he had really wanted to purchase books for pleasure reading, he would have gone to Knockturn Alley. There were far more interesting stores there.

Just having finished walking down rows of Herbology books, Draco made to turn into the next aisle, but hit something midway. A small figure fell to the ground dropping about ten books, which scattered all over the ground. A particularly feisty one literally crawled away. It must have been for that oaf Hagrid's class.

"Oh…sorry," a timid voice mumbled.

Draco looked down at the ground and found himself viewing the top of a raven mop of hair. Draco's eyes widened, he'd recognize that rat nest anywhere! Potter!

SHIT!

Draco's mind raced. 'Oh my god. What do I say? Crap…I don't know what to do.' He glanced around nervously, then looked back down to meet two stunning emerald eyes. 'Okay Draco, calm down, just say hi.'

What came out was, "Potter, watch where you're going you idiot."

Potter looked down, mumbled a 'sorry', and went about picking up the books that were still lying around.

Draco winced. 'Shit! That wasn't what I meant to say! I have to fix this...what did Mother say? Something about being nice? Yes, that was it…nice, I need to…apologize!'

Draco turned to speak to Harry just as he rushed past him towards the counter. All Draco could do was stare longingly, as the boy that stole his heart purchased his books and walked out of Draco's life. Well…not out of his life exactly, that was a bit melodramatic. But it certainly felt that way.

Draco finally looked back at the aisle, to find that it was full of potions books. Too focused on his despair, Draco didn't realize how unusual that was. Instead he punched the nearest shelf.

"Goddamnit! That fucking hurt!"

"Hey, you there!" the manager yelled at him. "I have your books if you want them."

Draco walked up to the counter, holding his right hand close. He paid for his books, and left the store in a hurry, the little bell ringing behind him.

"A right arse, that one…," the manager mumbled.

* * *

Harry didn't stay in Diagon Alley for long after his encounter with Draco Malfoy. Malfoy had gotten taller, a lot taller, and there was no way he'd win a physical fight with his rival this year. Having purchased everything he needed for his classes, he boarded the Knight Bus once again, and arrived back at the Dursley's.

Holed up in Dudley's second bedroom, Harry sat on top of the bed and looked over his new books. He'd bought everything on his school list, naturally, except for that copy of _The Monster Book of Monsters Vol. 2_, which had crawled away. He'd have to pick a copy up the first Hogsmeade weekend. After getting the books on his school list, Harry decided to look around Flourish & Blotts a bit more. He ended up buying a copy of _Magical Potions – Life Altering Serums_, _Advanced Potion Making, _and _The Dark Arts Outsmarted, _the last of which he remembered being in the Room of Requirement once.

Harry had not, despite Professor McGonagall's desires, achieved an Outstanding on his Potions Owl, but he felt the books might be helpful to him. He had been thinking quite a bit lately about how he would defeat Voldemort, without endangering his friends. He decided the only way that would be possible was if he did some research himself. This was his burden to carry, and his alone.

Harry ran his hands over the cover of _Advanced Potion Making_. Maybe without Professor Snape breathing down his neck he would be able to brew something useful. It was worth a shot…right?

* * *

Lucius Malfoy sat twiddling his thumbs in a corner of his very dark, and very dank cell. His hair was matted, as he just couldn't get it to look the same without his trusty Malfoy sized epic mirror.

"Drat," He muttered. This was not how he had planned out his life. Not to mention the awful example he was setting for his son, who had not so much as visited him once. Perhaps…that was for the best.

Lucius decided right then and there that he would have to get his act together. Because really, that damnable Dark Lord was hideous to look at, and really, life had been much better with his mirror.

* * *

"Mother, I'm a bastard."

"Well yes dear, you'll just have to come to terms with that. In due time I'm sure you'll be able to control that particular trait."

"Do I look humoured? Really? Because I'm not." He was struggling not to break down and scream in public. He'd just screwed up royally, and his hand still bloody well hurt.

"Oh, settle down dear."

"He hates me...," Draco rested his head down on the table in The Leaky Cauldron.

The waiter approached their table, "What'll you have?"

"Firewhisky," Draco spat out.

"Draco! He'll have a butterbeer, and I'd like a glass of pumpkin juice please," Narcissa responded and the waiter nodded and walked away.

"Motheeeeerrrrr…let me drown in my sorrows," Draco lifted his head and pouted.

"Stop your whining. Now, what idiotic deed have you gone and done now, young man?"

"I…might hve..acdntly insltd m…"

Narcissa's eyes narrowed, "What…?"

"I said, I…might have accidentally insulted him."

There was a break in the conversation as Narcissa bowed her head. When she finally lifted it up it was to yell, "YOU DAFT FOOL!" Draco fell off his chair backwards in shock, and several customers at surrounding tables looked in their direction. The old woman in the corner appeared as though she'd had a small heart attack.

"I cannot believe I'm hearing this! What did I tell you? What was the first thing I told you?"

"Um…be..nice?" Draco hid behind the chair he'd just fallen off of.

"Yes!" Narcissa put her hands in her hair and pulled, "How is it even possible…I was hoping, you might be slightly better at this than your father, but honestly you're worse! Unbelievable…unbelievable…unbelievable."

As Narcissa seemingly became overcome with disbelief, Draco sat back in his now upright chair and immediately slouched.

"Hun, really, don't slouch, it's unbecoming of you," It seemed that Narcissa had recovered, and she looked up deep in thought.

"Mother…do you understand now? Am I doomed?"

Narcissa sighed and replied, "Yes, I understand, and you may not be doomed. We'll just have to enlist more help, since you are hopeless on your own."

"…Help?"

"Hmm…yes, perhaps, your friend Pansy can aid us. She's a nice girl," Narcissa explained and Draco winced. "I also think you should talk to Harry's friends. Since he hates you even more now, you'll have to gain their trust first."

"You have got to be joking. Me? Be friends with…that…mm…that girl, and ugh! There's no way they'll go for it!"

"No, darling. I am not joking."

Draco groaned and slammed his head down on the tabletop while proceeding to hit his head repeatedly. The waiter approached their table cautiously, "Here're your drinks – one butterbeer, and one pumpkin juice." Wary to set them down on the shaking table, he handed them directly to Narcissa.

"Thank you, and actually, could you bring us some firewhisky as well?" The waiter took one last look at Draco, nodded, and scurried away.

* * *

**A/N:** I got really into writing this at one in the morning last night, well…this morning really… Sadly the next chappie will probably take longer than a few days, but I do still have almost a week off of school, so it might get out faster than I think. Review please! Comments + Constructive Criticism are welcome ^_^


	4. Chapter 03

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters within! It's all J.K. Rowling's! It is quite fun to mess around with their brains though.

**Spoilers: **SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP (disregards other books)

**Pairing: **Draco/Harry

**Warnings: **Possible language, violence, a bit of a depressed Harry, OOC-ness, some romance, some fluff, some angst (just for fun), AU (nothing from book six or beyond)

**A/N: **Well…it's been what, five years since I last updated this story? Man I apologize. I'm not a big time writer, but that's really lame. What with the coming of the final HP film I suddenly got this impulse to finish writing this story. Hopefully I can make it half decent or something…we'll see where this takes me. Anyway, I'm sort of planning to really get this going this summer. I've also noticed the formatting in the earlier chapters has somehow removed all of my section breaks, making parts of it very difficult to read…I'll go about fixing that soon as well. Once again sorry for the huge wait for anyone who's actually stuck with it this long!

**Beautiful in the Moonlight – Chapter 03**

Draco stood on platform 9 3/4s looking off into the distance. He'd arrived early. Three hours early actually, blast his mother. She'd dropped him off and scurried away to 'mingle with some friends' with no more than a pat on his back. So much for loving support in his time of need. The train hadn't even arrived yet for Pete's sake! So here Draco stood, with nothing better to do than work himself up about his very near future. Where was Pansy when you needed her?

"Good morning, Draco."

"Gah!" Draco whipped around to see none other than Pansy Parkinson snickering at him. She looked him up and down then reached out to flatten his hair.

"You look despicable Draco! Your hair is in shambles!"

"What the hell Pansy, it's rather rude of you to sneak up on me like that. Why are you here so early? And I do NOT look despicable, I never look despicable," Draco stood up straight and madly flattened his hair down. He then noticed the wrinkled state of his robes and proceeded to straighten those as well. He most certainly wasn't blushing at all.

Pansy merely raised her eyebrow at him, "I'm not early Draco, love, the train leaves in ten minutes."

"What?" Draco turned, eyes wide, and sure enough, there was the train, ready and waiting. Pansy laughed, and walked towards one of the doors.

"Hurry up Draco, wouldn't want to be late! Oh and when we get inside, you're going to tell me all about what had your panties in a bunch," Pansy smirked evilly at him and continued in.

Draco, his jaw nearly on the pavement in shock, merely sputtered out loudly,

"I do NOT wear panties!"

* * *

Gregory Goyle liked having friends. Above all else he was loyal to them. The sorting hat hadn't wanted to put him in Slytherin, a whispered suggestion of Hufflepuff had been mentioned, but Vincent and Draco were his only friends back then and he was determined not to be separated. Not to mention his father would have most definitely killed him on their next meeting. Yes, Slytherin was definitely the better choice, and the hat understood.

So when Draco tumbled into his and Vince's compartment on the train that day he knew that he had to help. Draco's hair had never been in that state before, not publicly most certainly. Gregory wasn't the smartest in his class by any means, but he knew when his friends were troubled. Draco all but fell into the seat next to him, while Pansy sat across the row next to Vince.

After a brief mumbling about 'panties', Pansy spoke up.

"So tell me Draco, what on Earth is troubling you?"

To Gregory's shock, Draco didn't answer right away. If possible his face merely went a shade redder and his right eye twitched a bit. For someone who usually had an astounding way with words, this was quite different. Suddenly, right when it looked like Draco's face might explode, he burst out,

"I'm in love!"

Draco's eyes, which were shut while saying this slowly opened to find three completely blank faces looking back at him.

"That's it? No shocked looks? No invasive questions? Nothing at all?" Draco asked quickly.

"I'm not shocked. In fact, I rather expected it, you were so dazed this morning out there. Tell me though, who is it?" Pansy's face practically lit up with glee. She was far too mushy for her own good. Draco wanted nothing more than to run away, but he'd come this far, and he needed her help.

"err...P-Potter...well that is to say, his name, could be, similar to that, possibly,"

"Draco Malfoy, are you stuttering?" Pansy asked with the biggest grin he had ever seen on her face.

Draco looked completely horrified,

"I am absolutely, under no circumstances, stuttering! Are you mad? Malfoys don't stutter! You senile woman!"

"Oh Draco, this is true love! It's perfect! Love between rivals, a joining of the houses of Hogwarts! The Malfoy family reconciles with the Potter family! Have you told him?" She reached over and grasped his hands tightly.

"Are you mad? Gods no! I can't TELL him. He hates me! His friends hate me! And I don't stutter! Let go of me!" Pansy's grip on him merely tightened and her eyes became more frightening.

"Don't worry Draco, I have a plan!"

In that moment, Gregory discovered for the first time that Draco was a metamorphmagus. That was the only explanation for the speed at which Draco's face drained of all colour.

* * *

Pansy practically dragged Draco from his seat and pulled him past the compartments.

"Pansy! What in the bloody hell are you doing?"

"Obviously Draco, we're going to Potter's compartment," she stated easily as she whisked them around the candy cart and past a group of curious first years.

"What? Let go of me, take me back, Paaaansy!"

"Oh Draco, you'll never get anywhere with love if you don't take some initiative!"

"Actually, Pansy, come to think of it, I've changed my mind. There, you see, I'm not in love anymore. Let's go back," Draco sighed in relief when she finally let go of his arm only to find himself facing the point of a wand followed by a blast of yellow light.

Draco's face immediately formed a stricken sort of smile and a feeling of relative happiness washed over him.

"Oh, hmm. Pansy what did you do to me? I feel rather well despite my current troubles."

"A simple cheering charm. You were getting far too overemotional for even me. Oh look, there's Granger, perfect! Go on!" Pansy shoved him in the general direction of the intelligent witch and leaned against the wall to watch the drama unfold.

* * *

Hermione Granger had not had a good day so far. For the past several summers she'd looked forward to that day signalling both the end of her summer vacation with her parents, and the start of her year back at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The train ride back to school was undoubtedly Hermione's favourite day of the year. After all, she lived to learn, and there was the added bonus of actually having friends while doing so. Unfortunately, fate didn't seem to want her to enjoy today.

Ever since Hermione had met Ron and Harry on platform 9 3/4s something had been terribly off. Harry was quieter, more so than usual even. He kept his eyes suspiciously lowered. She thought it had been strange when he'd turned down the offer to stay at the Burrow, but this was downright weird. On top of Harry's weirdness she could have sworn Ron was watching her constantly, but every time she turned to glance his head was mysteriously pointing the other way. The redness of his ears didn't escape her eyes either. It was all quite unusual. After ten minutes of unsuccessfully trying to hold a conversation with her two useless friends about who might be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year Hermione had had enough. She huffed loudly and excused herself from the compartment with the excuse of changing into her robes.

Not halfway down the train car Hermione noticed a tall figure, none other than Draco Malfoy blocking her path. She placed a scowl on her face, but when she saw that rather awkward grin (or was it a grimace?) on his altogether too pointy face directed at her, her eyes squeezed into no more than two tiny slits. And then he actually spoke to her!

"Ah, Granger, just the witch I was looking for! How about a little chat, scholar to scholar?"

Was that supposed to be a smile? Hermione took that opportunity to turn right back to her compartment. She'd prefer the company of her two useless friends over this bullshit any day, pardon her French.

* * *

Draco watched Granger's retreating back with an unusual sort of happiness. The initial insult he had meant to say to her had somehow disappeared along with all his nerves. Draco merely giggled slightly and turned back to Pansy,

"Well that didn't go exactly as planned, shame really. I'm sure we could have had quite the chat!"

Pansy noticed the small crowd that was gathering around them and decided she'd better put things in action and once again grabbed Draco by his robes and dragged him after the Granger girl. When they reached the golden trio's compartment she whipped open the door to three startled faces. Draco took a moment to notice Harry was reading an old potions book. That was rather attractive now wasn't it? It was Weasley who spoke up first,

"What the hell are you doing? Get out of here!"

"All in due time Weasley, Draco dearest here needs to have a conversation with Granger, and regrettably you as well, and I need to borrow Potter for but a moment," Before anyone could act Pansy grabbed Potter's arm and pulled him out so swiftly that he dropped his book and nearly lost his glasses, then shoved Draco in and shut the door, but not before taking his wand.

Draco practically stumbled over his robes but happily caught his balance, then took the empty seat that Potter had vacated. He turned his grinning face on Granger next,

"Ah, Granger, looks like we can have that scholarly chat after all!"

"Bugger off Malfoy, get out of here before I curse you out!" Weasley pulled his wand out of his robes and started waving it. Mid cast the Granger girl caught his arm.

"Ron, stop. The least we can do is listen to what he has to say," she turned her head to look at Draco with a seething glare.

"Smashing reflexes Granger!" Draco's grin grew impossibly larger.

Weasley looked at him with disgust,

"What the hell's wrong with him?"

Granger looked at Draco's smiling face and altogether tired with his creepiness pointed her wand at him,

"Finite Incantatum!"

Draco was suddenly overcome with a feeling of absolute dread. His face sank even more when he realised Pansy had nicked his wand. After a quick glance at both Weasley and Granger, he made a mad dash for the door.

"Colloportus!"

The cabin door suddenly sealed shut with a sickeningly wet sound and Draco found himself stuck. Curse that Granger girl and her knowledge of spells! He turned around facing two wands and two equally frightening faces,

"Tells us what this is all about, Malfoy."

Draco resigned himself to telling them the truth, after all, Granger could be a menacing bitch.

* * *

Harry hadn't really planned on socializing with anyone on his trip back to Hogwarts. He most certainly hadn't planned on talking to that pug nose Parkinson, let alone the two goons he now sat in between. Pansy was certainly stronger than she looked. Before he could whisk out his wand he'd found himself seated between Crabbe and Goyle and facing her. Certainly outnumbered, he knew better than to try and fight his way out.

"Good day, Potter," she tilted her head slightly to the side.

"..."

"Nice weather we're having," she blinked, and he could have sworn he heard some kind of acknowledgement come from the thug on his left. Goyle? Or was it Crabbe? Harry mentally kicked himself for dropping his book.

* * *

"You WHAT?"

"I thought it was actually rather clear..."

"Bullshit! Hermione, this has got to be some stupid plan of his-"

"Hold on, hold on...let me think," Hermione in all her years had never received such a shock before. The almighty Draco Malfoy was actually stating he was in love, with Harry no less. There was no way this could possibly be true. But then, she had seen the fear in his eyes when she'd lifted the cheering charm. He hadn't wanted to confess. And she saw nothing but truth when he spoke now. He was good at lying, but not THAT good.

Hermione was conflicted. Malfoy was a dick, there was no denying that. And he didn't deserve Harry. Not. At. All. But Harry...he'd been so strange lately. She couldn't deny something was wrong. He was unhappy, depressed even. Maybe just maybe he could actually find love here. She scoffed at the idea. No, that was totally impossible. Harry would never fall for Malfoy. But, if he did, that would be a great asset to the side of the light. Malfoys were all about family. In that moment she made up her mind.

"All right Malfoy, we'll help you."

"'Mione are you crazy?"

Maybe she was.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, this is actually the longest chapter yet I think! Hopefully a good sign. I'm determined to finish this fic! No matter how long it takes! As always, comments and CC always welcome


	5. Chapter 04

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters within! It's all J.K. Rowling's! It is quite fun to mess around with their brains though.

**Spoilers: **SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP (disregards other books)

**Pairing: **Draco/Harry

**Warnings: **Possible language, violence, a bit of a depressed Harry, OOC-ness, some romance, some fluff, some angst (just for fun), AU (nothing from book six or beyond)

**A/N: **I took a look at the outline I had set for this way back when I started it and the better part of it no longer made sense to me. Curse my horrible shorthanded jot notes. At any rate, I spent a good amount of time rehashing it out, and hopefully it's somewhat like my original intensions, and maybe even better. Hopefully there's nothing quite like it out there. Also want to thank those who added this story to their favourites since the last upload. It brought a smile to my face!

**Beautiful in the Moonlight – Chapter 04**

Draco Malfoy wasn't quite sure what to make of his experience with Potter's friends. He wasn't dead, so that was positive, but a small part of him wished he was. Those darn Gryffindors were bound to leak his obsession with the great Harry Potter to the rest of the school. Draco gave himself twenty hours before he felt the need to jump off the Astronomy Tower to his gruesome and untimely death.

Pansy couldn't have been more gleeful. Upon arriving back at his compartment on the train Draco caught a flash of raven as Potter dashed out the door at top speed, presumably to get away from Pansy, that psychotic bitch of a girl. Pansy proceeded to ask him endless questions for the rest of the trip. Draco himself couldn't believe Granger and Weasley had actually agreed to help him woo Potter. Well Granger had anyway, and that meant Weasley did by default. In the next few days Granger would deliver to Draco a list of Potter's favourite things, with the promise of death should he choose to break Potter's heart. Codswallup if you asked him!

After his rather stressful day Draco wanted nothing more than to whine and rant at his mother about how horrendous his life was. Why on Earth had she brought him into this shameful, awful, cruel world? Since his mother wasn't around and he'd done nothing but rant to her all last night he settled for writing his father. Before he knew it, a scroll the size of an essay for Severus Snape was tied to his trusty owl and on its way to Azkaban. Sighing dramatically Draco flopped back on his bed, gracefully mind you, and fell asleep.

* * *

Lucius was in the process of detangling the left side of his head of hair when a guard snapped at him through the bars of his dank cell,

"Malfoy, you've got mail."

To Lucius's astonishment a thick scroll bounced off the wall behind him hit him on the head and landed in his lap. Mail? For him? And was that his son's seal he spotted? Oh happy day! His wonderful son had written him. And a long one at that! Perhaps all hope was not lost! But wait, Draco was most likely not pleased at his predicament. Lucius suddenly became afraid at what hateful words might be held within the paper in his hands. With much trepidation Lucius unrolled the scroll and prepared to read his son's words.

"…"

After finishing, Lucius's eyes squinted and he reread the scroll twice more just to make sure. He wasn't insane. The scroll held not even one word about him past the scribbled 'Dear Father' at the top left. Not an inquiry to how he was. No 'I miss you'. Not even a single word of hate! In fact, the entire bloody scroll was about none other than Harry bloody Potter!

A passing guard noticed Lucius's very uncharacteristic posture and prodded at him through the bars with a stick,

"Malfoy, you dead yet?"

Lucius suddenly grasped his head with both hands and banged it furiously against the wall,

"Why, why, why, why, whyyyyyyyy?" he yelled at no one in particular and kicked his feet up and down wildly.

The guard jumped back and scurried down the hall. Azkaban really did turn people into loonies…

* * *

Sure enough, as promised, with the morning owl delivery a list arrived from none other than Hermione Granger. Draco lifted his eyes to look at the Gryffindor table across the hall. Unfortunately Potter's back was to him, but he could see Granger, who looked rather proud of herself and Weasley who looked like he had a stick shoved up his butt. Before Draco could say Fizzing Whizbee Pansy practically ripped the list from his hands, eyes scanning it quickly.

"Give that back you whore!" Draco hissed at her, reaching across the table to no avail. Pansy merely pushed him back with one arm while holding the paper away with her other.

"Oh Draco, calm down. It's not like you'd make any proper use of this list. As your official guide in true love, I expect you to entrust all of this information to me!"

"What are you rambling on about woman; I don't recall making you my guide in anything! And it's not TRUE love, just love! There's nothing true about it!" Draco spoke loudly, attracting the attention of some of his neighbours.

"Quiet Draco dear, or did you want everyone to know about your crush on Potter?"

Draco paled hissing, "Malfoy's don't get crushes!" and looked around but his classmates now seemed far more interested in the food on their plates. As Pansy began listing off various things, the colour blue, rain, something about music, while Greg and Vince listened attentively, Draco's focus moved elsewhere, to the back of Potter's head to be precise. Potter looked decidedly slouched today and from what Draco could see of his plate he wasn't eating much either. An indiscernible worried feeling overcame him, but Draco scrunched up his face at that. Bollocks! Malfoy's don't worry, especially not about little black haired scarheads, no matter how desirable they may be. When Pansy whacked him hard on the head he looked around to see a brilliant orange and blue spotted lily.

"What is this supposed to be?"

Pansy's eyes rolled at the question. Draco certainly was daft when he wanted to be.

"It's a flower...obviously. I didn't realize you were dumb AND blind."

"Idiot, I know it's a flower, but what is it for?"

"It's a lily, Draco. They're Potter's favourite. I transfigured it from my fork. Look! He's leaving, go catch up to him, and do try to call him by his first name!" Pansy shoved the flower into Draco's hands and turned him in the right direction. Draco nearly crushed the flower. He walked unevenly towards the door of the Great Hall, his arms straight at his sides, Pansy but two feet behind him. Draco willed himself to calm down, took a deep breath, pushed through the doors, and strode over to Potter.

"Potter!" Draco winced, "H-! Har-...Potter!" Fuck it but he couldn't say it.

Pansy just covered her face at this pitiful display.

To everyone's surprised Potter didn't do much else but look up at him. Even Granger had seemed slightly shocked, eyes widening comically. Ron appeared to have suffocated. Draco merely turned his head up high and practically shoved the deteriorating lily in Potter's face.

"...What...is this?"

"Ugh, Potter are you a complete idiot, it's a flower, a lily to be exact."

"...Why?"

Pansy scowled from behind Draco and muttered a swift, 'men'.

* * *

Severus had thought this year at Hogwarts might actually have proven to be mildly less than disappointing. After all, Potter wasn't taking potions this year, and less Potter was typically enough to brighten up his day. Severus briefly acknowledged that the Slytherin table seemed rather rambunctious for this early in the morning but focused on eating his sausages instead. However, when he stepped out of the Great Hall that morning to see Draco holding a flower at arm's length out to a very confused Potter, he knew that this year would undeniably be his worst year at Hogwarts yet. And that included that time James Potter and his blubbering friends hung him upside down with his knickers exposed to the world.

With a loud, "Potter! Detention!" and "Fifteen points from Gryffindor!" just because he could, Severus turned swiftly on his heels, robes billowing outward and marched down to his dungeons to inhale fumes. Nothing but a bit of chemical influence to numb the brain, and prayers be with the student that got in his way today.

* * *

Not a day in and Harry already had detention with Snape. On top of that he wasn't even quite sure why. Leave it to the combination of Malfoy and Snape to destroy his first day back at Hogwarts. After Snape stormed away, Malfoy had practically shoved the stupid flower in Harry's hands and hobbled off at a brisk pace like some kind of drunken fool. Hermione and Ron shared a strange glance before Hermione had practically dragged Ron down the hall saying something along the lines of 'time for class!' Never mind that Harry knew Ron had a free period. Harry, not sure he wanted to know what the hell was wrong with the world, settled on taking his free period to do some more reading and sat down in the back corner of the library.

He pulled out _Advanced Potion Making_ then decided to browse and see what else he could find in the library today. Walking down the shelves with actual curiosity, for the first time Harry noticed there were quite a few books that interested him. He read off some of the titles,_ Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions..._ _Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes...The Handbook of Hippogriff Psychology_. Briefly Harry was reminded of Buckbeak, his thoughts quickly traveling once more to Sirius. He pushed those thoughts to the side for now and continued on. Harry suddenly understood how Hermione could spend days holed up here just _reading_.

Reaching the section on curses Harry pulled a ratty looking _Curses and Counter-curses _off of the shelf and flipped through it quickly. He decided it could prove useful and headed back to his table. Stopping briefly at the end of the medical section he grabbed a book titled, _Common Magical Ailments and Affliction_ at the last second. Madam Pomfrey's knowledge of magical healing had always fascinated him. He wondered briefly at how a wizard became a healer and if that was a path he might be able to take.

Sitting heavily Harry realised how impossible that was; he'd be dead long before he could start a career. It was pointless to think about the future when he didn't have one. Harry resigned himself to the fact that he didn't have time for useless knowledge and pushed the book roughly away from him, instead choosing to read about curses. His time was better spent looking for things to save the world. Even on the off chance he lived past his 17th birthday, everyone expected him to become an auror anyway.

Harry tucked his hands in his pockets and came across something soft and silky. Oh yes! The lily. He pulled it out and turned it gently in his hands. It was really very pitiful looking. The stem was cracked, it was missing a few petals, and those still on it were a crumpled mess. What on earth had Malfoy been thinking? He lightly fingered one of the remaining petals. It was soft to the touch and reminded him of spring and Hedwig's feathers. Malfoy's face _had_ been priceless this morning, flushed and scrunched up like he'd never seen. And, Harry thought, lilies were one of his favourite things. A soft smile appeared on his face as he gazed at the flower. Placing it back in his pocket carefully, so as not to disturb what remained of it, Harry decided that perhaps he could spend a little bit of his time reading about healing. It would prove useful in battle anyway; perhaps he could actually save someone's life for once instead of getting everyone killed.

* * *

Pansy had never seen Draco looking more disgraceful in her life. He rested over his desk with his arms wrapped around his head. His hair stuck out in every direction from all of the scrunching. His robes were a wrinkled mess. His face was an unusual mesh of splotchy reds and greys. Even his tie was crooked! Draco Malfoy looked like everything a Malfoy was not. Even Professor Babbling seemed a bit thrown off by his lack of attention in her class. Usually Draco was one of her best students, taking pride in besting the others in the class. He excelled at interpreting even the most complicated of ancient runes. But today, the first, and last time, mind you, she had called on him, Draco merely let out an indescribable groaning sound and shifted slightly in his seat.

Pansy, not willing to watch her friend suffer further, leant close and whispered in his ear,

"Draco, that wasn't near as bad as it could have been,"

Draco groaned again and turned his head slightly away.

"In fact, I think it went quite well!"

Draco didn't move.

"Although you were rather awkward,"

Draco flinched slightly at being referred to as awkward.

"...and you royally fucked up his name too of course."

There was a small twitch of the arms.

"But really Draco, you're being too hard on yourself. Potter didn't even move to curse you!"

Draco merely gripped his head more fiercely.

"That's progress if you ask me."

Draco clearly thought otherwise.

Noticing her words weren't having any kind of positive effect, Pansy decided to give up for the time being. Draco could wallow himself away for a few days and then his Slytherin instincts to get what he wanted would kick in once more. And maybe then he'd stop acting so completely and utterly deplorable. Pansy knew he'd thank her later for pushing him in the right direction. For all of the Malfoy family's wealth and prowess, they were completely useless when it came to sensitive things like love. Pansy pulled out the list Granger had sent and folded it neatly. Leaning over one final time Pansy tucked the paper into a pocket in Draco's robes.

"Look over that list and don't lose it. If you want to get anywhere with Potter, you'll need to know these things," Pansy spoke sensibly.

Draco as per usual offered no recognition other than to groan in agony once more while pulling out several chunks of his white blond locks of hair.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading! Gotta say I love writing from Snape's POV. He's so cynical and humorous. Alan Rickman's expressions in the movie are just perfect too. Review please if you can, would love to hear what you think


	6. Chapter 05

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters within! It's all J.K. Rowling's! It is quite fun to mess around with their brains though.

**Spoilers: **SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP (disregards other books)

**Pairing: **Draco/Harry

**Warnings: **Possible language, violence, a bit of a depressed Harry, OOC-ness, some romance, some fluff, some angst (just for fun), AU (nothing from book six or beyond)

**A/N: **Thanks again for any favourites/story subscriptions! You guys don't seem fond of reviewing though! I would love to hear something even if it's a simple 'like' or 'don't like'! This chapter for the most part is very Harry centric, but don't worry, you'll see some Hermione, Draco and Pansy too.

**Beautiful in the Moonlight – Chapter 05**

In the first few weeks of school Harry had no less than eleven detentions with Snape. It seemed like just crossing the man's path offended him somehow. Harry couldn't help but think that Snape must secretly like him. Why else would he want to spend three hours with him practically every evening? Of course he never voiced this opinion. Despite coming to terms with his more than likely imminent death; Harry still had no urge to end it prematurely.

After his second detention Harry figured he should at least put his time spent in Snape's classroom to use. Whenever Snape left the room Harry would quickly search for left out ingredients and put them in his satchel. He'd managed to stock up quite a bit. With the stolen ingredients Harry had brewed several simple potions successfully. Unfortunately Snape kept the more expensive and rare ingredients locked up safely in his private stores. This meant Harry reached a block and couldn't brew more of the complex potions he had found in _Advanced Potion Making _and _Magical Potions – Life Altering Serums_.

Ever since his fifth detention he'd been casting a charm to augment his hearing in an effort to see if he could get any interesting information from Snape. Thus far he'd heard nothing but mumbled complaints directed at him and various other non-Slytherin students. One particular night Snape had been doing some marking at the front of the classroom. In a moment of rage he had thrown a particularly bad essay across the room missing Harry's head by but an inch. Wondering what he'd done wrong Harry looked up quickly with no small amount of shock in his eyes. Snape had whisked by and right out the doors with an angered yell of, 'First years...drivel!' Not for the first time that year, Harry thanked the gods he wasn't actually taking potions class. Never mind that it sometimes felt like he was with the amount of time spent in Snape's presence.

Sitting once again in Snape's cold dungeon classroom, Harry used his detention time to do more reading. As luck would have it, while Harry was reading about a particularly nasty curse referred to as _Atroxia_, which would cause the victim to witness the worst horrors of the world, Snape got up and moved to his back rooms. Harry almost missed it, but the whirring sound of two heavy doors opening caught his attention and he struggled to recall what exactly Snape had said. Something like Sapa-Sopo...Sophorous. No, not quite. _Sopophorous_! That was it. Leave it to Snape to use an ingredient from the Draught of Living Death. Finally Harry would be able to get the ingredients he needed to practice more advanced potions! Now he just needed Snape to _leave_ for a bit. A full two hours into his detention Harry was starting to think he wouldn't have a chance. What seemed like an age later Snape stood up and grabbed a bunch of vials off his desk. He drawled out,

"Potter, Madam Pomfrey needs these healing draughts. Don't...touch...anything...while I'm gone," Snape left quickly and Harry wasted no time getting up and rushing to the back of Snape's office.

Harry spat out the password and watched the doors open revealing thousands of vials and various potions ingredients. Harry couldn't help but smirk and made quick work of glancing at the names on the shelves. He made sure to grab as little as possible, and only those ingredients he thought wouldn't be missed; it wouldn't do to be caught. Harry might need more ingredients later this year, and Snape would change the password at the first sign of someone stealing! With one last glance back to make sure everything looked untouched, Harry rushed out and back to his seat, the doors closing loudly behind him. Just as he'd hidden the last vial in his satchel Snape threw open the doors to his classroom, glanced Harry's way, and spat out,

"Potter, you're excused. Now get out of my sight."

Harry, shaking slightly, packed up his books and left as fast as possible. He moved through the dungeons quickly and with excitement. Harry put a hand in his pocket and found himself again playing with the petals of the orange lily Malfoy had forced on him. Not wanting to watch the flower die, Harry had asked Hermione if she knew any preservation spells. Overly happy that Harry had both spoken to her and taken an interest in the flower, she cast a spell to keep the lily intact indefinitely while Ron watched with a grimace on his face. For Harry, touching the petals had become a habit in these past few weeks. For some reason it soothed his mind.

Caught up in his thoughts, Harry took a particularly quick corner and smacked right into another person. The lily flew out of his pocket to the floor and his satchel fell, the books inside scattering on the ground. Harry apologized quickly and bent down to pick up his things. He looked up and found himself staring into none other than Draco Malfoy's pale blue eyes. Harry, too stunned to move, merely gaped at him briefly and waited for an insult. Twice he'd literally run into Malfoy already this year!

Malfoy's eyes locked on Harry for a moment then moved to scan the items on the floor, eventually focusing on the lily at his feet. Harry felt his face heat up but stayed unmoving on the floor. He'd never live this down, holding on to a stupid flower from a stupid boy. That idiotic prat Malfoy!

To Harry's surprise Malfoy said nothing. Was it his imagination or was Malfoy blushing as well? Malfoy bent down and picked up the lily along with one of the books near his feet then looked up at Harry.

"Potions Ha-Potter? I didn't think you were taking that this year."

Harry couldn't find the will to respond and instead gathered the remaining books around him. Malfoy, apparently angry at his lack of response, thrust the book and lily in his direction and snarled,

"That's right; Professor Snape wouldn't let you in his class. Take it you idiot, you need all the help you can get. And watch where you're walking, that's twice now you've managed to scuff up my robes!"

With that Malfoy stood up and all but ran down the hall away from him, his face a very unnatural red. Harry looked at the book in his hands with the lily placed delicately on top. Malfoy was really weird this year. And Harry kind of liked that.

* * *

There was no word to describe how Draco felt other than brilliant! Potter, after three weeks, _still_ had the lily. That had to mean something. Draco raced back to his common room as fast as he could, several portraits reprimanding him for running in the halls on the way. He could have absolutely kissed Pansy. He never would though, she was vile! But, by Salazar Slytherin, perhaps she _actually_ knew what she was doing! Draco reached the entrance to Slytherin house and the wall spoke to him before he could utter the password,

"Make yourself presentable boy! A Slytherin must always look their best! Your father would be outraged."

Draco recoiled slightly then stood up straight and fixed his hair. Giving the blank wall his best Malfoy sneer he said, "Hungarian Horntail," it opened and he strode in. Spotting Pansy in the corner he walked over to her, lifted her up and spun her around.

"Pansy! You're a genius, a genius!"

Pansy, shocked, for Draco never had anything positive to say about anyone at all, questioned him,

"What is wrong with you Draco? Have you gone mad?"

"He kept it Pansy! He kept it!" Draco excitedly told her, his face forming a wide grin.

"Kept what? Who?"

"The lily! He kept it!"

Pansy watched as Draco skipped to the boy's dormitory wondering if Slytherin house would ever be the same again.

Draco jumped onto his bed. He was beyond happy. _The_ Harry Potter had kept a gift from him. It was almost too good to be true. Draco's good mood diminished slightly as he thought back on the incident. He had gone and insulted him again. Blast it! He couldn't do anything right! Pacing his room Draco realized that he still had a chance. After all, Potter had kept that flower for a reason. Draco pulled the folded list from his robe pocket. He'd had it there since Pansy gave it back to him. Glancing at the list he saw a written suggestion at the bottom from Granger, _call him Harry_. Hadn't Pansy already told him to do that? She was a genius after all. He'd have to work on that, it was bloody difficult. Draco put the list back in his pocket and sat down. His ambition was back full force and he wouldn't give up until Potter was his. Potter and his jade green eyes, and his raven black hair, and his slender hands, and even those stupid glasses. Well he could do without the glasses. Yes, he wanted Potter, and Malfoy's _always_ get what they want. No matter what his mother might say.

* * *

Hermione thought for a moment that Harry might actually be fine when he arrived in Gryffindor tower with a noticeably less depressed disposition about him. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't have his usual gloomy aura around him either. This was rare these days, and especially rare after a detention with Professor Snape. Ron seemed to notice too and threw a, "Harry, wizard's chess?" over his shoulder, but to no avail. Harry simply declined saying he was tired and continued up to his rooms.

Hermione knew Harry had lost Sirius just last spring, but she had honestly thought he'd bounce back like he always did or at least confide in her about it. At least, she thought, he seemed to be getting a little better. She hadn't missed the orange flower in his hands and secretly wondered if Malfoy would actually be _good_ for him. Wasn't that a completely ridiculous thought?

Hermione turned back to her studies and vowed to keep a close eye on how things developed. As long as Harry was Happy she would support him best she could. She glanced up and noticed Ron's eyes shift quickly away from her. His face turned the shade of a tomato. Had he been staring at her again? Best to keep an eye on Ron as well she decided.

* * *

Back in Gryffindor tower Harry sat on his bed with his newly acquired potions ingredients out while he flipped to some of the more complex potions in _Magical Potions – Life Altering Serums._ It didn't take him long to discover he had quite the talent for brewing most of these as well. Flipping through the pages Harry came across a potion called _Aegresco Egrescous. _This particular potion appeared to drain the life of the drinker to a near death state. Harry couldn't think of any real use for the potion, unless he could somehow force Voldemort to drink something, fat chance, but under the description of the potion there were some recommended readings for potions with similar effects. Books, which no doubt, could only be found in the restricted section of the school. Harry planned to make a night trip sometime in the near future. For now, he had to rest; the first Quidditch game of the year was in the morning, and he was actually looking forward to it!

* * *

Draco woke up early Saturday morning to make sure he got a good seat at the first Quidditch game of the year. He wanted to be front and centre of the Slytherin section. Gryffindor was playing after all, and he needed to spy on their techniques. It wasn't so he had the best view of Potter on that sleek broom of his, not at all.

The Hufflepuff team came out first, to his chagrin, flying around the field a few times. Draco eyed the new Hufflepuff seeker. He was quick, and small, but had nothing on Potter's speed. No, the only seeker who stood a chance against Potter was he, Draco Malfoy. Draco raised his head high with superiority over that thought. The Hufflepuff beaters on the other hand, would prove to be quite the challenge this year. Both seemed massive in size, not taller than Draco, but definitely wider, and they hit the practice Bludgers back and forth with a force to be reckoned with. Potter would definitely have to watch out for those two.

The commentator announced the Gryffindor team now. Draco, regrettably, actually missed Lee Jordan's announcing. He was a decent commentator despite his obvious bias towards Gryffindor. The replacement was a Ravenclaw, and possessed half the enthusiasm of Jordan. Draco's eyes watched the Gryffindor team as they mounted their brooms and flew around the pitch. His eyes moved to Potter and followed him as he moved higher than the rest of his team and stopped to float for a bit. God, but Potter looked good in the air. He had a grace about him on a broom that was curiously absent from his everyday life.

"Draco, who're you looking at with such _rapt_ attention? Let me guess...Potter maybe?" Pansy interrupted his thoughts. She just had to follow him everywhere!

"Shut up wench, I actually want to enjoy this match..."

"You mean you want to enjoy watching Potter ride a br-"

Pansy didn't finish her statement as Draco slapped his hand over her mouth. He gave her a glare and continued watching the players get ready as she snickered into his hand. Damn that woman and conjuring mental images. He found himself growing stiffer at the thought of Potter with...well, with his broom. He willed himself to forget her comments as Madame Hooch got ready to release the snitch. Potter moved into a starting position and prepared to fly around the pitch. The whistle blew and the game had started!

Potter was flying around with such speed, his eyes darting in every direction. The Gryffindor team had the Quaffle and were heading to the Hufflepuff hoops. Suddenly two Bludgers came out of nowhere, both aimed at one of Gryffindor's chasers. She barely avoided both, but dropped the Quaffle in the process. Draco grew more excited as the game began to develop.

The match was proving to be quite aggressive. Hufflepuff was up 60-20 and there was no sign of the snitch yet. That didn't mean the beaters were letting up on Potter though. He'd already had three close calls with well aimed Bludgers. Draco was gripping the rail in front of him tight as can be.

"My goodness Draco, are you ever tense!" Pansy commented from his side. Darn it all, he'd removed his hand from her face with all the action of the game.

"Don't worry; I'm sure your little lover will make it through this game in perfect condition!"

Draco's eyes widened and a light red found its way on his cheeks.

"I'm not his lover! I mean he's not MY lover! We aren't lovers! GAH!"

"He he, Draco, you're so fun to tease," Pansy playfully nudged his shoulder and turned back to watch the game herself. Draco spared her no glance, his eyes still glued on the action. He secretly doubted however that Potter would make it through this game without some kind of injury. The score was now 70-20, Hufflepuff had scored again!

In a quick movement, Potter doubled back and began chase. The Snitch! He'd finally located it. The Hufflepuff seeker wasn't even on the right side of the pitch, but noticing Potter's quick movement he flew in his direction. Potter dove and rose as though he were actually a broom himself. The Hufflepuff beaters wasted no time in directing one hundred percent of their attention to him. He evaded Bludgers left and right, but this allowed Hufflepuff's seeker to gain some ground. Potter dove nearly at a complete vertical catching up with the Snitch. Both of Hufflepuff's beaters hit their Bludgers again with perfect aim. They were just feet from Potter and there was no way he could avoid them both!

Draco let out a strangled gasp and he vaguely felt Pansy grip his arm like a vice. Even Vince and Greg leaned forward in their seats with rapt attention. The entire crowd seemed caught in a moment of absolute silence.

They missed! Potter had managed to pull a Wronski Feint! He flew up in time to miss both Bludgers, but the Hufflepuff seeker was not so lucky. Caught off guard one of his team's own Bludgers hit the back of his broom and he flew to a skid on the ground. Potter flew faster than Draco had ever seen, his hair blowing wildly in the wind. He reached out his arm and those oh so slender fingers of his grasped the snitch from the air, its wings flapping around with vigour. Gryffindor had won, 170 – 70.

Draco felt himself relax in his seat, sitting hard against the back rest. His face was flushed and he felt exhausted for some reason. Draco took back his previous thoughts. Potter wasn't good in the air, he was a complete maniac. He belonged there! Pansy's grip on his arm lessened and he felt her release a sigh beside him.

"Nothing gets you hot like Potter working a broom, eh Draco?"

Draco looked down and noticed, yes, he was indeed hard. And Pansy was indeed about to die.

* * *

**A/N:** I find Quidditch hard to write about. But it's a quintessential part of Harry Potter in my opinion, and I was always pissed when it wasn't in the books much. I plan on writing about another Quidditch game later too. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor anyone? Oh and, high five for longest chapter yet!


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